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Mechanoregulated remodelling in cancellous and cortical bone of the human distal radius
Bone adapts to withstand its habitual mechanical loading environment by adapting its microstructure through bone forming and resorbing cells. This project aims to quantify bone mechanoregulation in cancellous and cortical bone of the human distal radius by using new high-resolution CT imaging.
Keywords: Biomechanics, Finite Element Analysis, Bone, Biology, Mechanoregulation
Bone adapts to withstand its habitual mechanical loading environment by adapting its microstructure through bone forming and resorbing cells. A tempo-spatial relationship between tissue loading preceding bone formation and resorption sites has been proposed to predict remodelling, i.e., bone mechanoregulation. Human bone is generally classified into two types 1: Cortical bone, also known as compact bone and 2) Trabecular bone, also known as cancellous or spongy bone. Both undergo the continuous remodelling process; yet, previous studies investigating bone mechanoregulation have focused cancellous bone adaptation [1,2].
There are many reasons for this, including the traditional opinion that, owing to its higher surface-area-to-volume ratio, cancellus bone is metabolically more reactive to mechanical loads. However, recent research has challenged these commonly held concepts, noting that most of the appendicular skeleton is comprised of cortical bone and subject to a majority of age-induced bone loss [3]. Furthermore, 80% of fractures are non-vertebral, occurring predominantly at sites composed, at least in part, of cortical bone (e.g., distal radius)[4]. However, the lesser spatial extent of the cortex makes it more challenging to locally map bone formation and resorption to mechanical strains imposing higher demands on image quality.
This project aims to quantify bone mechanoregulation in cancellous and cortical bone of the human distal radius by using new high-resolution CT imaging techniques and computational methods.
Bone adapts to withstand its habitual mechanical loading environment by adapting its microstructure through bone forming and resorbing cells. A tempo-spatial relationship between tissue loading preceding bone formation and resorption sites has been proposed to predict remodelling, i.e., bone mechanoregulation. Human bone is generally classified into two types 1: Cortical bone, also known as compact bone and 2) Trabecular bone, also known as cancellous or spongy bone. Both undergo the continuous remodelling process; yet, previous studies investigating bone mechanoregulation have focused cancellous bone adaptation [1,2].
There are many reasons for this, including the traditional opinion that, owing to its higher surface-area-to-volume ratio, cancellus bone is metabolically more reactive to mechanical loads. However, recent research has challenged these commonly held concepts, noting that most of the appendicular skeleton is comprised of cortical bone and subject to a majority of age-induced bone loss [3]. Furthermore, 80% of fractures are non-vertebral, occurring predominantly at sites composed, at least in part, of cortical bone (e.g., distal radius)[4]. However, the lesser spatial extent of the cortex makes it more challenging to locally map bone formation and resorption to mechanical strains imposing higher demands on image quality.
This project aims to quantify bone mechanoregulation in cancellous and cortical bone of the human distal radius by using new high-resolution CT imaging techniques and computational methods.
This project is an opportunity to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of bone mechano-biology and, as part of your education, has the goal to boost your development and enable you to take ownership of your learning! You will learn how to use state of the art high-resolution bone imaging and apply computational methods (e.g. Finite Element Analysis) to the resulting 3D patient bone geometries. Finally, you will interpret the results in the light of a contemporary mechanobiological understanding.
This project is an opportunity to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of bone mechano-biology and, as part of your education, has the goal to boost your development and enable you to take ownership of your learning! You will learn how to use state of the art high-resolution bone imaging and apply computational methods (e.g. Finite Element Analysis) to the resulting 3D patient bone geometries. Finally, you will interpret the results in the light of a contemporary mechanobiological understanding.
The project is suited for any Bachelor or Master student with basic python knowledge (If you know how to run a jupyter notebook, you will be fine!) You will get access to our remote jupyter lab resources and many pre-developed tools that you can use to explore the mechanically driven bone remodelling process in real patient data! You will be able to work comfortably, remotely from your browser.
Please contact me via email matthias.walle@hest.ethz.ch
The project is suited for any Bachelor or Master student with basic python knowledge (If you know how to run a jupyter notebook, you will be fine!) You will get access to our remote jupyter lab resources and many pre-developed tools that you can use to explore the mechanically driven bone remodelling process in real patient data! You will be able to work comfortably, remotely from your browser.
Please contact me via email matthias.walle@hest.ethz.ch